Research: Sawmill Database

Alpha-Numeric Key:	LI-52
Corporate Name:	Kirby Forest Industries Inc. [Company]
Local Name:
Owner Name:	Kirby Forest Industries, Inc., of Louisiana-Pacific. Williams Forest Products Corp., 1972, Harry Williams. Carl Williams and Garland Anthony, 1950; Williams served as manager.
Location:	Three and one half miles south of Cleveland, east of Highway 59Box 846
County:	Liberty
Years in Operation:	47 years
Start Year:	1950
End Year:	1996
Decades:	1950-1959,1960-1969,1970-1979,1980-1989,1990-1999
Period of Operation:	1950 to 1996
Town:	Cleveland
Company Town:	1
Peak Town Size:	5,183 in 1950
Mill Pond:
Type of Mill:	Pine lumber. Pulpwood chips under Louisiana-Pacific Sawmill Pine Sawmill Hardwood Sawmill Cypress Sawmill Planer Planer Only Shingle Paper Plywood Cotton Grist Unknown Other
Power Source:	Steam, gas, and electric Horse Mule Oxen Water Water Overshot Water Turbine Diesel Unknown Pit Steam Steam Circular Steam Band Gas Electricity Other
Maximum Capacity:	35000: 195075000: 1965
Capacity Comments:	1950: 35,000 feet daily; 1960s: 75,000 feet daily; average production was 50,000 feet daily. 644,000 board feet in 1993.
Produced:	Rough Lumber Planed Lumber Crossties Timbers Lathe Ceiling Unknown Beading Flooring Paper Plywood Particle Board Treated Other
Equipment:	A complete sawmill single band with a planer and dry kilns. Now a chipping headrig.
Company Tram:
Associated Railroads:	Southern Pacific
Historicial Development:	The Gulf Coast Lumberman noted in 1950 that Garland Carl Anthony and Carl Williams were constructing a sawmill facility three and a half miles south of Cleveland on the east side of Highway 59. This was a mill that Williams had operated in Arkansas, dismantled, and moved to Cleveland. The mill would employ 120 men. This mill has appeared in various sawmill directories from 1957. According to J. C. Swain who worked for Williams in Arkansas and Texas, Williams built a small company town next to the mill. According to Bob Currie, the plant was a vertical band mill with planing mill and dry kilns. In February, 1966, a fire ravaged the plant, destroying the sawmill, powerhouse, and fuel house. The planer, offices, and tenant homes were saved. Losses may have exceeded $250,000. More than one hundred workers were idled by the disaster. In 1972, Harry Williams bought the plant. The mill was rebuilt, and by 1973, was cutting almost four million board feet annually than thirteen years earlier. The Williams mill employed 95 workers in 1966. The mill cut 11,296,647 board feet during 1960, and 15,000,000 board feet during 1973. Its management included Herbert Williams, woods boss; Ernie Glenn, sales manager; J.E. Johnson, sawmill superintendent; Sam Chapman, planing mill superintendent; John Ivy Smith, head filer; Richard Williams By 1987, the company ceased its sawmill operation and engaged only in wood buying and logging. During the late 1980s, Louisiana-Pacific Corporation bought the sawmill plant and converted much of production to chips. Charles Thomas reported that Louisiana-Pacific incorporated the Bobby Cassity sawmill, known as the Moss Hill Lumber Company, at Batson and Moss Hill, in 1988 into the Cleveland operation.
Research Date:	JKG 12-14-93, MCJ 03-14-96
Prepared By:	J Gerland, M Johnson